View full sizeTNTTara (Jeri Ryan), left, returned to help Sophie (Gina Bellman) and Parker out with an unexpected assignment in Sunday's "Leverage" episode, "The Girls' Night Out Job."

Sunday night's "Leverage" outing, “The Girls’ Night Out Job,” was another refreshingly unconventional episode (following on the heels of last week's "The Office Job," with its welcome doses of humor and "The Office"-style mockumentary on-camera confessionals).

Instead of the entire gang going after some bad guy to bring justice to an innocent victim, "The Girls' Night Out Job" began as a night off. The guys were going to play poker, while the gals were splitting up to see -- gasp! -- friends.

This episode is also the first half of a pair, since next week we get to see "The Boys' Night Out Job," which will give us an idea of what the guys were up to. I'm thinking the fact that we catch a glimpse of Hardison (Aldis Hodge) climbing a fence to escape pursuing dogs later in this one means that poker night didn't go as planned. But while we wait for that one, let's contemplate what the gals got into.

So, it was a big enough shock to hear that Nate (Timothy Hutton), Sophie (Gina Bellman),Eliot (Christian Kane), Hardison and Parker (Beth Riesgraf) don't actually spend all their time together, working cases or talking about cases. They do have other friends! Well, all except Nate, apparently. As Eliot put it, he has his ex-military friends, and Hardison has his online buddies, even if "They're all elves and gnomes." Poor Nate. You know your social life is deficient when even Parker is heading out for a night with a pal. Never mind that said pal, Peggy, only knows Parker as "Alice," one of the alter egos she used on a job.

Parker shows up for her meeting with Peggy, who has requested Parker give her a second opinion about this supposedly perfect guy Peggy's met online. He goes by the moniker, "ILovePaws72," and shares Peggy's love of cats. This is only the first in what will prove to a long line of jokes at the expense of cat lovers.

Their rendezvous at the bar is the first time Peggy and Cat Boy have met, as Peggy's invited him to accompany her to a swanky party she's catering at the Venezuelan Consulate. As first dates go, that sure beats the heck out of meeting for a half-caff latte.

But Parker susses out that the handsome guy there to meet Peggy can't be on the level. Why would a suave gent in a tux be interested in cats? Cat-lovers of the world, feel free to get your kibble in a snit about this conclusion, but Parker's instincts are right. She calls Hardison, who interrupts poker to do some facial recognition magic -- Cat Boy is really a bigtime thief.

Meanwhile, Sophie is having a drink with our old pal, Tara (Jeri Ryan), who filled Sophie's grifter shoes while Sophie was off having a baby finding herself. Parker has introduced herself to Cat Boy, then excused herself to phone Sophie (the excuse: "I have to call my cat"). Parker asks Sophie for help in saving Peggy from being victimized by Cat Boy and also in figuring out what this well-dressed thief is really after.

Now we're at the party. Cat Boy is actually named Craig Mattingly, and he and Parker are a glamorous couple, since Parker filched Peggy's invitation and a shiny cocktail dress conveniently left hanging at the bar.

Tara and Sophie begin their running debate about which of their personal grifter philosophies is better as they fake their way into the party -- Tara as a Secret Service agent, Sophie as a Russian "escort."

Peggy is furious to discover Parker swiped her invitation, not to mention Cat Boy. "He's a hot guy who likes cats and you stole him from me!" Parker tries to convince Peggy she's just trying to help, but Peggy's madder than a cat with its tail caught in a fan.

Turns out Cat Boy -- er, Mattingly -- is at the party to steal something, and there's a handful of wealthy types with matching suitcases (did they all agree to coordinate accessories before the party?) apparently filled with money to buy whatever's being stolen.

What's being stolen isn't a gem, or a priceless art treasure -- it's information on a computer about the reserve levels of oil in Venezuela, which is apparently a hot item for Texas oil barons and drug cartel honchos. OK. Whatever.

Cut to a location labeled as "Mexican gang headquarters," which is actually the Lotus cafe in downtown Portland. Hardison and Eliot are inside -- OK, that poker game really fell apart -- and Parker calls Hardison for more help with some computer wizardry.

Mattingly catches on that Parker isn't really "TabbyFan76," Peggys' online name, but is really a thief, just like him. They have a little chat about this on the roof of the building -- with more cat-people jokes -- while Sophie is doing a swap the suitcase routine in the ballroom and Tara's dancing a tango with one of the drug cartel guys to distract him.

And, since this is "Leverage," an underdog who deserves a break turns up -- a Harvard professor of Latin studies who wants to buy the secret info in the name of the Venezuelan people.

Before it's all over, Parker finds out that Mattingly tried to pull a double-cross on her; there's a bomb planted on site to get rid of the incriminating information and everyone at the party; Hardison, on the run from vicious looking dogs, tries to explain to Sophie and Tara how to defuse the bomb; they decide to just throw it out the window, as it explodes into a fiery orange ball, on its way down.

When all is said and done, the Harvard prof gets the info for the good of the Venezuelan people; Peggy knows Parker is "a spy"; and Parker realizes that, different though she and Hardison are, she'd rather have been with him than with Mattingly, who shares her love of thrills. And stealing.

Highlights:

* As usual, there were some Portland locations doing noble duty as Boston spots: exterior shots of what sure looked like the Benson Hotel, and some evening scenes filmed in front of the Ira Keller fountain, which looked rather glam onscreen;

* Peggy whaling away on a waiter involved with the bomb plot, after he tried to attack her with a knife. "That knife was part of a set!" she screamed, then whomped him with a pan, yelling, "Why can't a small business owner who happens to like cats find a nice guy?"

* The lady-with-a-cat jokes were so relentless, that any minute now, I expect to get a press release from People Against the Constant Teasing of Cat Fanciers protesting the episode.

Next week: we find out just how a guys' poker game turned into a trip to a Mexican Drug Headquarters and a flight from attacking dogs.